Tempo-driver held for robbing, killing friend

A 33-year-old tempo driver was arrested for allegedly robbing and killing his friend, whose body was found last week in a creek in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

A local resident on last Saturday spotted the body in a big plastic bag floating in the creek in Kalher area and alerted the police, Narpoli police station’s senior inspector M B Shinde said.

During the probe, the deceased was identified as Prasad Tiwari, 37, a resident of Mulund area in neighbouring Mumbai, who worked as a cash collection agent with a businessman, he said.

The police also found that on March 6, when Tiwari was carrying Rs 12.66 lakh, his friend Dinesh Saroj, a tempo driver residing in Mumbai, allegedly took him to his home, robbed him of the cash and strangled him to death with the help of a friend, he said.

The accused and his friend Sunil Yadav (27) then packed the body in the plastic bag and dumped it in the creek, Shinde said.

Saroj was arrested on Wednesday and a search was on for Yadav, he said, adding that the police were also trying to recover the money.

A case was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) against the accused, he added.